Odion Ighalo reveals ‘truth’ behind his shock move to Manchester United
Manchester United's Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (R) talks to Manchester United's Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo Image credit: Getty Images
Odion Ighalo has revealed the truth behind his shock past transfer to Manchester United. The 35-year-old Nigerian joined United on loan in January 2020 as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rushed to strengthen his front line after both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial got injured.
Ighalo, who was playing in the Chinese Super League for Shanghai Shenhua at that time, had previous Premier League experience with Watford, having scored an impressive 17 goals in 42 appearances in the 2015/16 season.
But after struggling in the following campaign, Ighalo then made the move to Changchun Yatai for a reported £20million in January 2017. Ighalo spent three years in Asia before he signed for United.
Following his move to Old Trafford, Ighalo, who is a boyhood United fan, reiterated that he is fulfilling his “dreams” by playing for the club.
He failed to score one Premier League goal during his time at United, which was extended until January 2021, but he ended up firing five goals in 23 matches across all competitions. Ighalo had initially penned a loan deal until the end of the 2019/20 season, but was kept on by Solskjaer until the following winter.
At the time, United were looking at several strikers as a short-term solution after Rashford and Martial were ruled out. Then-Bournemouth forward Josh King, a former Academy product at United, was one of those linked, with former Newcastle and Everton star, Salomon Rondon, also of interest. Leicester flop Islam Slimani was among the others considered as United chased for a late January transfer.
But after Rondon’s club Dalian Yifang rejected United’s loan offer, Bournemouth turned down a £20million bid for King and Leicester demanded a £4million loan fee for Slimani, Solskjaer’s men signed Ighalo.
And in an interview with Nigeria Women’s star Rasheedat Ajibade, Ighalo opened up on how he managed to sign for United. “My agent called me to say United wanted a striker on loan because Martial and Rashford were injured and they needed a back-up striker,” he said.
“I said what team? Did you say Manchester United? And he said they have like four options of strikers to sign and you are the third option and all that.
“I started praying against those other options and I said those other options will not work.”
“I prayed and prayed and prayed,” Ighalo added. “And two days after, my agent called me and said they wanted to go for me because the other options are not working and I said thank you God, thank you God.
“I still did not believe my eyes. When I saw the offer they sent, the letter… on United-headed paper, goose bumps came out from my body.”
Ighalo first headed to China when the CSL was recruiting a number of world-class players and trying to become a superpower in itself, with Hulk, Oscar, Carlos Tevez and Jackson Martinez making the move to the Far East. During his time at Shanghai, Ighalo was said to be earning a staggering £400,000-a-week.
And Ighalo outlined how the financial side of his move to United worked. “I played three years in China,” he said. “I went back to the UK in the Premier League with United.
“That deal was a dream come true for me because I’m a hard-core United fan. So when that deal came, nothing anybody was talking about was entering my ears.”
Ighalo added: “I got a pay cut to go to Manchester but I just didn’t care. I told my agent, just make the deal work. Even if they don’t give me any money to play for United, I just want to wear that jersey.”
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